Читать книгу Colby Conspiracy - Debra Webb - Страница 7

THE RAIN had stopped. Victoria Colby-Camp stood near the massive window, staring out at the shimmering downtown city lights reflected in the inky black of the Chicago River. This wasn’t really the best time for her to be distracted. There were more hands that needed to be shaken, more affirmations of gratitude that should be made. Only an hour ago, she had received her second prestigious award as Chicago’s Woman of the Year, but she couldn’t help being drawn away from the glitz and the glamour and toward the unknown and the darkness shrouding the city she loved.

No matter that she stood in the mammoth marble lobby of the R. R. Donnelley Building, with its ancient Greek and Roman architecture, or that hundreds of silk-and sequined-clad guests mingled around her. She could feel the subtle shift…the ever-so-slight change in the very atmosphere of her happy but fragile world.

She had every right to be ecstatic. After half a lifetime of hoping and praying, she finally had her son back, alive and growing stronger every day. Jim scarcely reflected even a hint of the Seth persona that had ravaged his life from the age of seven until just one year ago. Great strides had been made with therapy and the love of the woman who had somehow managed to touch his battered heart.

Tears welled in Victoria’s eyes when she thought of all that Tasha had done to save Jim, to bring back the man, as well as the boy, who had barely managed to survive behind the ugly mask of a killer named Seth. Victoria smiled and blinked the tears away. Jim and Tasha had set a date for their wedding. All that Victoria had hoped for was finally coming to fruition.

“My dear, this is no place for the guest of honor to be hiding out.”

Victoria turned at the sound of the familiar male voice belonging to the man she loved. He was the other long-awaited wish come true in her hard-won battle for happiness. The man she had loved and admired from afar for so very long was now her husband. Emotion tightened her throat. Though a part of her would always love James Colby, the father of her son, her heart now belonged fully to this man…to Lucas Camp.

She smiled, gloried in simply admiring his handsome, however rugged, face for a few seconds before she answered. “I just needed a moment to myself.”

The heart-stopping smile that he reserved just for her spread across her husband’s face. “This is your night, Victoria. You deserve this honor and more. Come.” He folded her arm around his. “Let’s have another toast to the Woman of the Year.” He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “To my lovely wife.”

Victoria allowed Lucas to lead her back into the midst of the festivities. She smiled, offered the expected gestures and comments with all the grace required of a woman in her position, but part of her could not let go of the nagging instinct that everything was about to change.